"Half a century after the 26-year-old firebrand burst onto the world stage by leading a failed assault on the Moncada barracks, his revolution is dead in the water," it said.

As President Castro nears his 77th birthday in August Cubans are also beginning to wonder how much longer he will remain in power, and what may happen when he dies.

Longest serving

"There is a sense of resigned expectation on the island, because no one really knows how Cuba is going to get out of this hole," Cuban-born Washington-based professor Eusebio Mujal-Leon told Reuters news agency.

The political face of Cuba changed forever on the night Castro led rebels on the assault of the second most important military base of corrupt right-wing dictator President Fulgencio Batista.

At the time government forces appeared to crush the rebellion - the rebels were tracked down and shot and Castro and his brother were jailed.

Six years later, in 1959, Fidel Castro and the revolution succeeded in toppling Batista.

He has remained in power ever since, earning him the title of the world's longest serving current political leader.